plugging in connecting with your membership on line t he a merican l egion
TRANSCRIPT
THE AMERICAN LEGION
Plugging InConnecting with your Membership
On Line
THE AMERICAN LEGION
AGENDA
•What is E-Marketing?• E-Mail Marketing Services•What is Social Media
THE AMERICAN LEGION
WHAT IS E-MARKETING?
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Why e-newsletters?
E-newsletters are an effective means to drive traffic to your
website, engage and inform your members and identify the
needs of our community.
• Your members use e-mail
• Low costs
• Revenue generation
• Member retention
E-MAIL MARKETING
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Services
• Easy to use
• Import e-mail lists
• Select templates
• Up to 2,000 subscribers
• Up to 12,000 emails / mo.
E-MAIL MARKETING
The top 10 email marketing services
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Tips
• Subject line is KEY!
• Make it Useful.
• Make it Interesting.
• Keep it Simple.
• Link to Website.
E-MAIL MARKETING
THE AMERICAN LEGION
When to send e-newsletters
Studies have shown the majority of inbox traffic and
activities occur on working days – with the peak on
Thursday. This is the top day for all metrics: percent
sent, open rate and click through rate.
E-MAIL MARKETING
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Weekly on Thursdays
• Over 450,000 subscribers
• 30% Open Rate
Goto:
Online Update
E-MAIL MARKETING
Online Update
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Flag Alert• Flag at Half-Staff
• Over 35,500 subscribers
E-MAIL MARKETING
Commander’s Message• ~ Quarterly
• Over 450,000 subscribers
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WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
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Online interactions with eligible non-members can become
conversations and your best recruiting tool.
• Listen and respond
• Understand your goals and audience
• Decide on platform(s) and use them
• Be professional, but be yourself
• Execute
SOCIAL MEDIA
THE AMERICAN LEGION
• Participation - encourages contributions from everyone blurring the line between media and audience.
• Openness - encourages voting, comments and sharing of information.
• Conversation - allows you to engage in an exchange of ideas and opinions.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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• Community - joins you with other people who share common interests, such as photography, a political issue or a favorite television show.
• Connectedness - is what most types of social media thrive on, making use of links to other sites, resources and people.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Types of social media
• Blogs - are articles with a personality behind them.
• Microblogging - is social networking with bite-sized blogging.
• Social networks - allow you to connect with friends.
• Forums - are for online discussion, often around specific
interests.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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The Burn Pit
Mark Seavey
• Loyal Community
• Calls to Action
• Fundraising
The Burn Pit
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Microblogging
TwitterAn online service that allows users to send and read “tweets”, which are messages limited to 140 characters.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Use @AmericanLegion when
tweeting to target the National
Headquarters account. This will
allow them to see your tweet and
possibly re-tweet your message.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Microblogging
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Why YouTube?
• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each
month
• Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month
• According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults
ages 18-34 than any cable network
SOCIAL MEDIA
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YouTube tips
• Create compelling videos.
• Keep it short and to the point.
• Create a searchable title.
• Leverage other social media platforms.
• Review analytics.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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YouTube: How to share videos
SOCIAL MEDIA
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YouTube: How to embed videos
SOCIAL MEDIA
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How to use Facebook• Create an account
• Build a page
• Connect with members and non-members
• Engage your audience
• Influence your audience and their network
Go to: Facebook.com
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Facebook: Build a page
• Choose a category (non-profit) and a descriptive Page name
• Choose a profile image people can associate with your post
• Write a sentence about your post
• Set a memorable web address for your Page to advertise in print
• Choose a cover photo that represents and showcases your post
SOCIAL NETWORKS
Go to: Facebook.com/pages/create
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Facebook: Connect
• Place a link on your website
• Invite e-mail subscribers
• Display a flyer at your post
• Use “suggest to friends” feature
• Place Facebook ads
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Facebook: Engage your audience
• Write quality posts that are relevant to your audience
• Be friendly and conversational
• Share photos and videos (Be careful what you post)
• Ask questions or seek input
• Be timely by posting about current events, holidays or news
• Ask your audience to share your posts
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Facebook: Influence
When people “like”, comment” or “share” your content on Facebook, their friends are notified in their news feeds. The more people interacting with your content the better.
Go to: Facebook.com/pages/create
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Facebook tips
• Post at least once a week
• Vary your content: events, photos, honor & remembrance
• Be friendly and conversational
• Provide calls to action
• Make it “sharable”
• Provide exclusive content they cannot find in other media
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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A look at our Facebook pages
Go to: Legion.org/facebook
• National Headquarters
• Online Update
• Legion Riders
• Legion Baseball
• Honor & Remembrance
• National Convention
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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A look at successful Facebook post from National
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Other social media worth mention
LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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MyLegion.org is designed to connect members of The American Legion to their Post and Department leadership.
• Membership information - view member renewals• Data change forms• Consolidated Post Reports• Search for expired members
Go to: MyLegion.org
MYLEGION.ORG
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